The Evil Fantasy
by denebtenoh
Summary: Leon Kennedy has always been the protector, most of the time without allowing his feelings to interfere with his mission. But what happens when he meets azure, deadly eyes and strawberry locks that speak of danger? crossover with FFXIII and RE!
1. Chapter 1

**THE EVIL FANTASY.**

A/N: I´m writing this in honor of the best gaming franchises in the world (for my liking of course, no insult intended): Final Fantasy XIII and Resident Evil. A dangerous crossover! Yaaaay! I´m getting all excited about it! Hope you like it too!

The usual disclaimer applies here: I DON´T own any of the games nor any of the characters. They´re owned by their respective.

Reviews will be completely commented! And I would REALLY appreciate some suggestions too! I´m just learning this fantastic world of writing! Thank you!

/

The young US officer was having a hard time breathing in the warm weather of the jungle, somewhere in South America. The forest was bathed in green all over, and he felt as if the place was determined on stopping his desperate sprint, with the thick and endless barrier formed by the multiple tree branches and midget trees, as well as high plants, constantly getting in his way and assaulting the exposed skin of his arms, face and neck, creating small although bothersome obstacles in his path, something that had started to grow heavy on his already strained muscles. The air was thick and hot, making it such a struggle to inhale deeper, moreover as deep as his lungs were pleading right now, given the long run he had been taking. Breathing in the dampened air felt as if he was trying to breathe oil, and it surprised him that, in spite of being almost midnight, the heat and level of humidity were still unbearable.

His body felt sticky all over and his clothes clung tightly to his skin, his blond-ash bangs stuck to the front of his sun-reddened face, dampened by the constant sweat. He was losing so much body water and so fast, he almost felt afraid to lose consciousness out of dehydration. But he knew he couldn´t lose it in that moment, his current mission was of uttermost importance, and he couldn´t forget his BSAA comrade counted on him to escape out of the small village alive, and they could only make it together. The tall blond couldn´t understand how such a prolific business like drug traffic could be developed in such an unhealthy environment, but he _did_ have experience on the deadly virus growing exponentially in small countries like this. Truth be told, it wasn´t the first time he and his partner had to survive on a town of an underdeveloped country infested by zombies or zombie-like creatures, but their previous experience didn´t make it any easier.

He stole a glance at his right and met eyes with the dark orbs of his new comrade, who suddenly opened them wide in surprise and, in a rush of well honed reflexes, shoved the blond´s body forcefully, making him crash against a nearby tree… The blond stood up and recovered quickly from the surprise, but when he turned around to glare at his new friend for his sudden and unwelcomed action, he found a huge, bloody and sturdy ax embedded on a tree close to him… exactly in the path where his head had been just seconds ago.

"Are you alright, Leon?" Chris asked, concern displayed in his countenance but his well trained senses still focused on their surroundings, ready for the next attack.

Leon Kennedy sent a thankful glance at his partner, grateful that he was teamed up with the best BSAA officer, the legendary Chris Redfield. The blond took the hand he was being offered and propped himself up, slapping thankfully his partner´s back. "Thanks Chris. Let´s move on then, they´re catching up with us."

"Yeah, I think I´ve noticed, partner. Wonder when they got so fast."

"It must be part of the effects of this new virus. C´mon, we need to get out of here fast and get reinforcements."

"Tsk. And to think this little town is called el Paraiso." The young, raven haired man smirked. Irony came always in the form of Umbrella, and the officer didn´t know whether to laugh or feel angry.

They glanced at their backs, and were easily able to distinguish the dozens of silhouettes barely drawn by the moonlight. They took another sprint forward, their guns still at the ready and their skills in an extreme level of alertness, when they suddenly found a clear view of the moonlit sky, free of trees, when a feeling of tightness over his chest enveloped Leon and made him halt their rush in a sudden movement, grasping tightly his friend´s sleeve. Chris felt himself yanked backwards, right before his foot touched the emptiness of a high cliff that extended below them. The blond was extremely happy both their sixth senses were at their tops, otherwise, they would´ve been death for a long time by now.

They took a glance downwards, hearing the water running below, but with the dim moonlight they couldn´t possibly guess the depth of the fall. Both men swiveled around, just to be faced with a murderous mob that immediately surrounded them.

And It wasn´t a normal mob. Mostly men, the group had their skin almost grey, their clothes were torn and in some parts had patches of clothed blood, but their eyes were the most dreadful feature. Each eye had dark red irises, bloodshot, and now each pair were fixed on the officer´s bodies, while a threatening countenance was displayed in each face.

The two comrades had met that look before, but those past encounters hadn´t prepared them for what they had found in that village. It seemed as if the new virus strain seemed improved, for the murderer´s movements were nothing like the zombies nor the ganados each one had encountered on other missions. These ones moved fast, and were, therefore, more deadly.

"Shit! We´re surrounded!"

Leon glanced around, searching for a way out and finding none. "Guess it´s time to unleash hell, my friend."

Chris just smirked.

"Guess so, partner."

On cue, they both took out their uzi guns, and started firing skillfully at the zombie group, fending off their proclaimed territory and fighting to make good use of each bullet, but in spite of their efforts, the zombies kept their steady steps, getting closer by the minute. Leon was readying a grenade when a blinding lightning tore the sky apart and stroke right in the middle of the dire mob, followed by a thunderous bang that made both their ears ring, leaving the two men completely deaf for a moment, and immediately after they felt the force of the blow slamming against their bodies, sending them flying backwards. They both fell in desperation as they felt themselves traveling on the air, feet losing all contact with the ground… and felt their bodies plummeting helplessly into the cliff. Fortunately for the young officers, their reflexes were at their tops as well, so Leon grabbed a prominent tree root and felt Chris´ hard grip on his foot. Their bodies dangled menacingly at the gorge, the chasm below calling for them derisively.

"Hang on, buddy! I got this!"

"You better do! Or I´ll tell Claire to kick your ass if you let me die!"

In spite of their plight, the blond man chuckled at the empty threatening words, but immediately focused on clinging tightly on the root, struggling to hoist himself and his partner, as his other foot searched for a place to steady his movements. He found a small prominence on the rocky wall and fastened his foot on it, pulling his body closer to the wall. He took a glance to check on his partner and felt relieved to see he was grasping too, the rock and nearby roots, finding a loose safety in that place.

"You ok, partner?"

"Yeah, I think we were lucky…" The raven haired man whistled as he looked downwards, now finally able to grasp the height they were in. "So close… hopefully we can climb through this roots. And let´s pray they´ll resist our weight."

"You read my mind, comrade."

The blond turned around and strained his muscles at the top, grunting for the effort and hearing his friend working his way up as well. The roots scratched their bodies furthermore, and he even felt tiny bloody trails over his abused skin, but after some minutes of grunting and panting, he finally felt the edge of the cliff and propped himself up, planting his feet hard on the ground and turning around to help his partner on his last inches.

"Thanks, partner."

"Anytime, comrade."

They both exhaustedly crawled to get further away from the cliff, and then sat on the ground, finally giving up after the enormous exertion, panting and sweating even more, as they both fought to recover their breaths and ignored the loud protests of their aching muscles. After some minutes and still out of breath, Leon took a glance at the spot where the zombies had been moments ago, and found the bodies burning, motionless and scattered all around a center area that seemed like a crater.

He shakily stood up, and walked with his feet still refusing to move, forcing them to obey nonetheless, weary of the explosion but with his curiosity getting the best of him. It had always been his worst problem… and his best ally.

"Leon…?"

He waved a calming hand towards his partner and approached further, avoiding the blazing bodies and blocking out of his mind the retching smell that came from the rotting, burned flesh. When he reached the edge of the crater, his body stood still, awestruck, refusing to move, while his mind went completely blank.

Some seconds after, and still panting, Chris reached his level and stood awestruck as well, at the sight that met them both.

"What is…?"

But before the raven haired man could finish his sentence, the blond rushed forward, downward, to reach the center of the crater. "Leon! Wait! You can´t get close! It´s dangerous!"

He unheard the warning voice and stood close by to the origin of the explosion, kneeling over it.

There, laying on the ground at the center of the crater, and still surrounded by small sparkles that, from time to time, lashed out the air close by, he found the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. She seemed unconscious, her body sprawled over the uneven, rough terrain, making her look as a broken, desecrated princess resting over an unfitting bed of rocks. Her body was slender, with smooth curves that were accentuated by her slightly sideways position, her abdomen enveloped by a crimson and torn piece of fabric that seemed to be born on her back, and that in some way resembled a cape. She wore (surprisingly to him) what seemed to be military-style boots and a very short leather skirt that just barely covered cream-like skin of well toned legs. He blushed at the thought and forced his eyes to follow the trail up her body, struggling to prevent his thoughts from falling astray, but still appraising her white sleeveless coat and the dark gloves that enveloped delicate fingers. He also noticed the plateau in her left shoulder, its significance making him frown at a loss of the meaning, when suddenly his eyes fell captured by silky pink tresses that billowed lightly with the soft night breeze that passed by… and that were framing delicate, goddess-like features.

"She´s…" he could barely register his partner´s voice right behind him.

"Beautiful..." The younger officer finished the sentence without thinking and, without registering the movement either, he leaned forward, hesitantly kneeling at her side. His mind had gone blank, but his arms reacted on their own accord and reached out to her, straining to raise her up from the ground. One arm behind her legs, one on her back, and as delicately as he could muster, he strove to carry her bridal style. Fortunately for him, the action wasn´t foreign for his body at all, having lifted many women that same way so many times on some other missions.

"Err… Leon… tell me you _don´t _plan on taking her with us. Please?"

Still with delicate movements and pressing her limp body against his, he took a glance at his partner. "Of _course _we are taking her with us! We can´t just leave her here on her own! Especially _not_ unconscious as she is _now!"_

"Wrong. We _can_ leave her here with no problem whatsoever. Besides, have you considered the possibility that she _might_ be one of _them_?"

Leon was growing impatient, as well as his partner, but at the last statement he took a glance at her features and his eyes softened. "How in the world would someone like _her _be part of them?"

The raven haired man rolled his eyes. "Pffft… as if you don't already know."

Leon made an attempt to rise from the ground, when they both heard the young woman moaning slightly, and saw her eyes striving to open. Both men stood frozen in time as her pink lips seemed to struggle for making up words, but only producing unintelligible sounds, her hands moving as if fighting to reach something to grab on, her eyelids fluttering slightly, and then Leon found himself able to take a glance at azure, almost white orbs that, once they found his face, seemed desperate to focus on his eyes, desperate to convey something, only to be closed again, and he suddenly felt her body go limp under his arms once more. The blond felt rooted to the spot, mesmerized by the split moment their eyes had met, completely hypnotized by the depth of her stare.

Chris sighed in defeat at watching Leon´s confused (and awestruck) look and placed a hand over his partner´s shoulder. "Okay, lover boy, time to go, you can see now she´s completely gone."

Leon turned his face to address the man and shot a glance at him, menacingly. "Don´t even think that I will…" but the man stopped him in his tracks with a hand.

"Don´t get all fussy, Leon. I agree with you, we can´t leave her like this." He raised his arm and signaled into the woods. "As we ran I thought I saw the silhouette of a hut back there, I reckon not too far away from where we stand now. Let´s hope it´s abandoned and, if I got it right, the place seemed far enough from the village, and probably safe enough. We could hide there until the chick wakes up, how ´bout that?"

The blond grinned thankfully. "It sounds like a plan to me." He sighed in relief at his partner´s helping disposition and stood up, astounded at how light her weight felt on his arms, how easily she fitted on them, and fought a blush that crept on his features the moment her face became close to his after he had accommodated her upper body against his shoulder.

Chris smirked at his expression, turned around to walk goofily towards the hut and placed his hands at the back of his head. "´Sides, old habits die hard, and I _know _I won´t be able to change your mind. After all, you´re always the ladies man, a guy drawn by hot-and/or-dangerous-chicks-in-distress, like a mop to the fire, something that won´t change for a long time, no matter what I do. And I don´t want to leave you alone in the dark with a girl like her."

Leon blushed at his statement. "Hey! What do you mean by that? It´s totally _not _true!"

Chris rolled his eyes again. "Sure thing, partner, as if _wouldn´t _have examples of those!" Before the blond could utter another word, the raven haired man turned around to face his partner and raised his hand in front of him, counting with his fingers, much to the blond´s annoyance. "Hot-chick like in hot-dangerous-Ada, like in Manuela-or-Ashely-in-distress, like in…" he rose his eyes and glared at his companion. "I _really_ hope I don´t have to include _my _sister on the list."

It was time for Leon to roll his eyes. "You should be thankful for that. But rest assured, there was _nothing _going on between us."

"Pfft, I knewit, partner… glad to hear it, though." After a small chuckle, Chris approached him further, studying the young woman on his friend´s arms. "Anyways, I can´t deny it. The chick _is _hot. Guess I would´ve done the same if I were you, my friend."

The blond grinned at the more experienced man, trying to ignore the heat that crept into his chest at his words, as a foreign feeling washed over him. "Thank you, comrade."

"Tsk. Don´t thank me. I´ve learned my lesson well with you. So let´s not waste any more time. I´ll take point, you follow behind, and let´s see if we can take that girl of yours to a safer place until she recovers… and hopefully she won´t chop our heads off." He smirked the moment he heard Leon scoffing at his words, then turned around once again and started a fast pace towards the direction where he thought he had seen the hut, his back against the younger man.

Leon smiled and followed suit, his eyes trained on his partner´s leading form, but from time to time he couldn´t prevent himself from stealing glances at the sleeping beauty in his arms.

/


	2. Chapter 2

The Evil Fantasy chapter 2

A/N: this is a Final Fantasy XIII/Resident Evil crossover, because I love BOTH games soo much!

Hope you enjoy it!

The usual disclaimers apply!

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Silk-like strawberry blonde hair laid in waves across the semi-clean pillow of the rusted bed Leon had rested his precious cargo on.

Soft, deep breaths made the young woman´s chest rise and fall in rhythm, filling the young man´s ears.

After making some arrangements with his partner, and taking well care the small hut was indeed empty, Leon had taken first shift at watching over the sleeping beauty, and was now seated on an old chair at the bedside, while his mind was clouded in thoughts, searching for an explanation for the sudden appearance of the girl lying at the bed, while he admired the seemingly fragile beauty, cerulean orbs tracing the curved frame and traveling back up in search for delicate, peaceful features. His eyes weren´t exactly leering at her figure, but he could nonetheless appreciate the beauty carved underneath the layers of sheets that covered her body.

But his thoughts were divided in half, as he recalled almost every single minute the events that brought this woman with them. As well as the feelings that had carved into his senses. His arms still burned from the places his skin had accidentally touched hers. His mind still lingered over the confused feelings of peacefulness and uneasiness, all at the same time, that had washed over him as he cradled her in his arms, waiting for his partner to make way for both of them, and finally finding shelter on the old shack they currently were in. In truth, he´d wished the moment would´ve lasted longer than it had.

Leon Kennedy inhaled deeply once more, fighting for control over his racing heart, as he brushed his hands together, struggling against the next wave of urgency that washed over him… an urge to touch her, to hold the hand that was lying over the bed, so damnable close to his reach. An urge stronger than any other before in his life, a fever that made his heart race at the mere thought of ivory skin, the idea of warm flesh tantalizingly assaulting his senses. A sheer desire of tracing the lines of soft skin with his fingertips, of holding her close, her body against his, warm and pulsing, of seeing her eyes open once again…

He exhaled deeply as a soft tremor took hold of his body. He could tell the longing intensified whenever she inhaled deeper in her sleep, or moved in any way, allowing a glimpse of exposed flesh of her neck. At least as much as he could see. It didn´t help that the girl wore a turtleneck, but for him, it was as if that particular issue made her neck even more desirable to see. To caress.

To kiss.

He shook his head and exhaled again, as he fought to suppress the way his thoughts were falling astray. He had never been a man who had problems with dating, as women seemed to be drawn to him as easily as moths to a flame, his desire raising anew whenever a sensual body came across his sight, but that eventually faded at getting his hands on the object of his desire. His body responded, but his heart seemed locked away, the last time it had beaten so achingly, he hadn't had time to act on it. More than six years had passed, and he hadn´t found anyone who could make his chest vibrate once again, even though he kept on searching. Therefore, with the experience of years, he could always control his emotions, his needs. That being the reason why this longing came as confusing for him, even if compared to those dark eyes that lingered on his memory.

The eyes of a spy.

But, if he was honest with himself, this new feeling reminded him of a time even further back, where every new sensation came as overwhelming for his recently acquired set of hormones. Of the times where a brush of skins at the level of his knee, the kind of brush that would happen under the table, would send him into violent tremors particularly painful to hide.

A whack on the back of his head took him forcefully from his happy travel through the world of memories.

"What the f…?"

"Is she awake yet?"

He raised his blue eyes and glared at his partner, darkening his sight when he was faced with a smirk that spoke volumes. A smirk that said something close to 'gotcha!' He gave up on the aggressiveness, though, and settled it with a sigh, knowing that he could never win when faced against a Redfield. _Any _Redfield. So instead, he searched with his eyes for the still form of the mysterious woman.

"Not yet, and doesn´t seem to have the intention on waking up soon."

Heavy steps made their way close to the bed, but he refused to tear his sight away from her body. It still eluded him the why´s, but he nonetheless welcomed the peaceful feeling that lingered on him whenever his eyes fell over her frame. He could even feel his own muscles loosing the tension.

An appreciative whistle invaded his ears, aggravating him.

"As I said before, the chick is hot, I´ll take that much."

This time Leon´s anger rose in a vengeance, and he felt his head flooding with warm blood, his face blushing intensely, as he felt himself seething with rage. But he managed to keep his control, still refusing to acknowledge the oppression in his chest, still refusing to give it a name. But he knew it well, as much as he knew he had claimed the bed as a part of his territory. Along with everything that laid on top of it.

"But it still strikes me as odd." Chris kept on, lost in his own thoughts and seemingly unaware of the murderous glare.

"Uh? What are you talking about?" The words took Leon out of his reverie, and said man looked up to see his friend taking the sheet by one end and slowly exposing the lithe body. The blond raised a threatening brow, but said nothing against it.

"Her clothes, I mean. They´re weird, I´ve never seen someone dressed in such a style before, and mind you, my little sister has dressed in _so _many styles in her entire life, that it would impress even you," he smirked at the thought, and after a second, grew serious once more "but nevertheless, don´t you find something oddly _familiar_ in this attire?"

Leon allowed his partner to uncover the sleeping body right below the waist, and for the first time he truly addressed her clothing.

"I noticed the boots before," Chris kept on, pointing at the addressed garment, now lying at the floor, "but now that I see it up close, her jacket has some resemblance to the uniform we used to wear at Racoon City, can you see it now? The many bags, the rather raspy, low cost material, and on top of that, the weird looking plate fastened on her shoulder, and that carries parallel lines… can´t you remember _where _you can find another assemble of stripes just like these?"

Leon could notice all that, but couldn´t grasp the meaning of it, his eyes still lingering on the curved form, until blue orbs opened wide in recognizance.

"Are you saying she´s some sort of… military staff?"

"Yep, that much."

"But the skirt is way too short for any militia to allow it."

"Well, you certainly won´t have me complaining about _that_."

Leon glared at his partner, and the man only shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"What? I´m being honest! Something, _you_, my friend, just forgot how to be." The blond opened his eyes wide at the accusation, and the brunet only smirked at his expression, raising his hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I know when my presence is not appreciated, so I´ll leave you to your princess, lover boy." He winked at his partner and pivoted on his heels, taking his leave. But after a couple of steps, the man came to a sudden halt, his body completely frozen, his sixth sense ricocheting.

His change in posture made his comrade tensing as well, as Leon could see his partner´s body motionless, but knowing the brunet was addressing his surroundings with the rest of his senses.

"What? Did you hear something?" the ashen bangs moved with their owner´s head as Leon searched for a sound around them, unable to place the threat his partner had registered, but trusting in him nonetheless.

"No."

That answer made the blond weary.

"So what is it then?" he asked, as he studied his partner.

"Exactly that. I can´t hear _nothing._ It´s too silent…"

"What are you…?"

But Leon didn´t have time to finish his question, as the sheets at his side flew above his head, covering the upper part of his body and blinding him for a moment, and before he could process what was happening, he felt intense pain at the back of his knees, forcing him to fall on the ground with a loud thud.

"Leon!"

The lithe form that rose menacingly from the bed flew past the sheet-covered blond and right at Chris, making a summersault and aiming a powerful kick at the man´s chest, which would´ve taken forcefully the air from his lungs if it hadn´t been for his quick reflexes, as he crossed his arms in front of the chest, blocking the attack, naked feet almost breaking his arms, and sending him hard against the wall.

The female used her hands as support, rolling over on the ground, and without losing her momentum, she made a sweep on the floor and hit the brunet ´s legs, sending him straight to the ground as well. She raised her eyes to find the other man already standing, extricating himself from the ragged sheet, and their eyes met.

Leon fell mesmerized by the azure, almost white pupils, and felt trapped under the intensity of the emotions behind them, when, in a moment that lasted a split second, the woman averted her eyes from him, looking at the wall at his side and then right back at him. He understood the gesture.

She had found her weapon.

They both jumped in unison, she having the advantage of speed, but the man had battled a very fast female spy before, so he knew he was up to the task. Straining his muscles to their top, he rammed the weapon and took hold of it first, his back slamming against the wall, when the woman smashed her body against his, crushing him in between her and the wall, and effectively drawing the air from his lungs. She had allowed him to get to her weapon first on purpose, and had used his body as a cushion for her own fall.

As the large man struggled to force air into his lungs, almost prone on the floor, the strawberry haired beauty retrieved the weapon, which looked to be a version of a rifle, and jumped a meter away from the man, who had managed to raise on his knees, still fighting to catch his breath, and she fell a feet away from the only window on the room, her back barely gracing the cold wall, as she took aim of the fallen officer.

"Freeze!"

In a swift motion, the woman turned and aimed at the voice. Chris stood a couple of meters away from her, gun at the ready and aiming at the strawberry head, as she kept her posture as a mirror position of his. They both locked eyes with one another, their bodies stressed out, motionless, every muscle trained to match the movement of the enemy at front. They both knew neither would give the other an inch for survival.

Chris tried to press his luck forward. "Don´t move or you´ll force me to shoot!"

Although the azure eyes were cold, she managed a smirk, as if daring him to try. His right eye flickered at the innuendo, but refused to eat the bait. "Are you alright, partner?"

Leon slowly stood up, still coughing, his gun now tight under his grasp.

"Yeah… just gimme a couple…"

"I don´t think we have a couple of minutes, my friend."

At that moment something happened.

The ivory skin looked paler, minuscule sweat drops graced the skin on her forehead, the long eyelashes started to flutter, and her posture slumped a bit. The young woman seemed to be struggling to keep her focus, and was obviously losing the battle.

Neither of the males moved a muscle.

"What´s… wrong with her?" Chris whispered tentatively, tightening his grip over the handle of his gun, at which his companion just shook his head slightly, and, although still panting, Leon rose on his full height and aimed his own weapon at the strawberry beauty, both men concerned for a trap… or worse. A mutation.

The young woman felt light-headed, dizzy, feeling as if the ground was nearing closer by the minute, and, making a last effort, she tightly grasped the windowsill with her left hand, desperately seeking to steady herself, knowing she was about to lose consciousness any minute now, and hating herself for it, for showing such weakness in front of the enemy. The weapon grew heavy on her hand by the second, and even though she fought to restrain her arm from trembling the way it was, hissing with the effort, her aim was slowly meeting the floor, and now she could only see one face, that of the blond man, while a loud clatter announced her she had lost the grip over her gun as the rest of her surroundings were embedded in black, the darkness stretching out from all corners, a niggling buzz invaded her ears, and she suddenly lost sense of everything else, not noticing the firm hold that arrived just in time before her body hit the floor, and cradled her on strong arms once again.

..0

A/N: Second chapter! Yay! Thank you all SO much for your wonderful encouragement and comments! Thanks to you, this baby LIVES! XDDDD

Hope you like it and wait for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

The Evil Fantasy chapter 3

One by one, as if waking up from a deep slumber, her senses started to focus.

First, she heard noises, flapping noises, the sound that makes hundreds of wings, like many, many birds living in a forest. Only, paying attention more closely, there weren´t the usual bird sounds; something unusual about the noise, creepy unusual, chilled her veins. Then, as her hearing improved, she noticed another type of sound. They were some sort of squawking noises… like the ones that starving ravens would make.

The second sense to wake up was her sight, as her still closed eyelids were invaded by white, and she started to move her eyes as a instinctive reflex, and stopped immediately as her mind, as well as her common sense began to catch up. She knew that she had to assess the rest of the information before giving away her awakening. Such reaction was part of her survivor training.

The third sense that came to her aid, unfortunately for her, lied on her nose, as a retching smell assaulted her and she felt the need to throw up the scarce food she had left on her stomach. It smelled like rotten meat, or worse: like rotten corpses.

Unable to resist the urge to throw up, the young woman tried to turn her body to one side, afraid to vomit on top of herself, or worst, drown on it, but some strong restrains over her wrists prevented her from moving freely, not allowing her to separate her back and head from the soft surface she was lying on top of, but for a couple of inches.

With fear overpowering the urgent retching, the strawberry beauty finally opened her eyes, which were immediately wounded by the intensely bright light of the bulb directed at her, and as her sight adjusted to the intensity, she turned her head around, noticing the rather decadent ropes that held her wrists captive to a rusted, foul-smelling bed, and started to panic, as the helplessness and vulnerability of imprisonment weighed on her. But she´d been trained for this, trained to take control over her fears, her strongest emotions, so she inhaled deeply three times, as her mind started to take hold of her racing heart.

She couldn´t allow herself to fall into panic.

_Relax, soldier. _She turned around once more, as she addressed her fingertips moving exactly in command. _At least I didn´t turn Cie´th, nor crystal. That´s a plus._

"Oh! You´re finally awake!"

Despite the woman´s concentration, the deep voice startled her, and as she turned her head around, her eyes met deep blue ones looking at her with a combination of relief and… something else she couldn´t place. The tall, blond man standing close to the only door (the worm-eaten, almost fallen door) was looking intently at her, a look that unsettled her, but as she scrutinized him back, she also noticed something oddly familiar to her: she analyzed his blond, ashen locks playing over his blue eyes, his strong jaw painted with a thin stubble, his thin lips carved in a small smile… all of his features, his overall countenance, irradiated a familiarity the woman was sure had seen before, only refused to be placed. And the look in his eyes… She didn´t know why, but such look unnerved her… in some way, made her stomach flutter.

The woman immediately put aside her uneasiness as her mind recognized him as an enemy, and, after some seconds of locking eyes with him, sending him her most dangerous look, (which he corresponded with a lopsided smile), she came to the conclusion that he didn´t seem to have the intention of attacking her… at that instant. So she broke eye contact with the man and struggled harder with her ties, grunting at the effort and the frustration, refusing to pay mind to the damage the delicate skin on her wrists was sustaining for her movements.

"Hey hey! You´re hurting yourself!" Leon hurried closer to her, trying to appease her, to no avail. "It´s useless to fight it, my partner tied you up with his strongest technique."

She shot him a dirty look, her pretty face replaced by a mask of fury, the unbelievable transformation gluing him to his spot, and then the pale beauty turned back to her apparently futile attempt at releasing herself.

Leon sighed at her persistence. "Told you it´s useless, I recommend you to stop or you´ll make your skin bleed."

As she met him with her indifference, he sat in the bed, close to her, trying to gain her attention, while the silent beauty continued her attempt, completely ignoring him. Leon scratched his head, fighting the frustration and worry that were menacing to surface, enhanced by exhaustion and hunger. They had to move on, it was too risky to linger in the shack, therefore the man needed to know if he could carry her outside as a friend… or as a prisoner.

And he needed the information soon.

"I think" Leon started, "we should make better use of our time while we wait for the morning, and we could start by you telling me your name."

She shot him another killing stare and resumed her struggling. He sighed once more at her stubbornness.

"Fine, guess you´re right, it´s rude of me to ask your name before giving you mine." He took a rusty chair nearby and sat very close to the bed, trying hard to get comfortable. Her proximity was still getting the best of his nerves, and her fight against her restraints didn´t help his plight, since her constant movements allowed him to take quick glances at more cream-like skin…

The blond coughed, avoiding the possibility of his mind going astray, and started. "My name is Leon Kennedy, and I swear to you it´s not my intention to hurt you, unless you force me to. So there you go. What´s yours and what where you doing with those zombies?"

As she acted as if she hadn´t heard him, the man took it as a sign to keep on further with the questioning. So he decided to go for the kill, since they didn´t have time to spare. It was necessary to take immediate action, no matter what it had to be.

"I see, you´re not speaking to me then. Ok, how about you respond with nods or shaking your head, and try to answer me this: are you one of them?" no response, but it didn´t deter his determination on getting information from her. After all, it would be the only way to know how safe they could be close to her, especially since he didn´t want to leave her alone in such a dangerous place. "Are you one of those… things? Or somewhat related to their creation?"

The last questions froze her, hitting a very sensitive core on her, and as his features illuminated and darkened at the same time, noticing the reaction, she felt herself getting close to a panic attack, as she remembered the threat she and her comrades had lived in the past couple of months.

_Oh no! _The thought chilled her veins, _he´s a l´Cie hater!_ The idea of being immobilized, completely helpless in the hands of a fanatic, or worse, an undercover PSICOM soldier, threatened her senses to go on rampage. She clenched her teeth and her fists, as she fought to prevent her mind from losing control once again.

For his trained eye, her body language spoke volumes to the man, even though she just had stopped her struggling and had fallen silent once more, still refusing to meet his eyes. He could clearly see the many lean muscles tightened, could read the fight for control over emotions, and it could only mean one thing.

"So, you _are_ one of them." Leon scratched his head and sighed, leaning against the chair. "Oh man… Chris is going to kill me…"

Her mind reeling, searching for a way out, she decided to gain some time, and finally looked him in the eye. The young woman inhaled deeply to keep her voice even.

"So what´s next? What are you planning to do to me?"

The question, but furthermore, the husky, sexy voice, took him by surprise, sending electrifying shockwaves throughout his body, and for a moment his mind went blank, as the sound matched suddenly with images of exposed skin, and without control, the memory of her smell and soft feeling of her body assaulted his mind. Almost a full minute passed before he could step out of the fogginess that had invaded his brain and finally process the meaning of her words.

"Uh? _Do to you_?" he shook his head as his mind finally caught up with the words, feeling insulted at the implication. "Whatever do you mean?! I´m just trying to know whether you´re enemy or not!" Leon didn´t know why, but the question, and the implicit meaning, made him angry. "I really _need_ to know if I can trust you, because we _really_ can´t stay here, and I´m not planning on letting you loose if you present a threat to my partner and I." He sighed, getting his temper under control once more, but without losing the harsh tone. "That said, if you want your pretty head to stay on its place, you better give me one reason to trust you, otherwise I´ll be dragging you out of here as my prisoner, instead of granting you my protection." He crossed his arms over his chest, as if daring her to talk. "Your call, pretty lady."

She smirked at him mockingly. "Tch. As if I needed your protection."

Each looked at the other daringly, eyes as slits, a battle of wits already started.

A minute passed by as they locked eyes with each other, her mind reeling, his mind set, until she broke the silence once more, her scarce patience losing the battle.

"You need information? Fine then." She spat at him. "But I need you to answer _my_ question first. Or don´t I deserve at least the knowledge?"

A blond eyebrow rose. "What question?"

Her eyes became as slits once more as she pushed him further. "Whatever are you going to do to me?"

He looked out the window, his eyes searching the dark night sky, worried about the lingering danger in the air, and trying to gain some focus and patience. Realizing he wouldn´t get anything from her through such approach, the man finally raised his palms in front of him in a conciliating gesture.

"Look, you don´t understand. It´s not that I´m planning on doing anything to you." He sat closer to her, blue eyes digging holes on her own, and in a proximity that, for some odd reason, made her heart miss a beat. "I just need to know whether you´re one of them or not. Whether you´re infected or still remain human." He paused, as if willing her to understand. "I need to know what you can tell me about the infection spreading on this village."

_Infected?_ She thought, as the words surprised her. _What an odd way to say it! So this is the way Gran Pulse thinks of the l´Cie?... Gran Pulse? _Now that she could take a better look at her surroundings, the place, even if it was a small, obviously old house, didn´t look at all like the constructions she had seen on her journey, or the ones her Pulse partners had described her. A sudden thought occurred to her, and the pink haired beauty slowly rested her head on the dirty pillow, trying to process the idea. _Are we still on Gran Pulse? _The single possibility made her look around a third time, appraising her surroundings even further. She didn´t know of any other planet, or any other fal´Cie, that was neither Gran Pulse nor Cocoon… but then again, her whole life she had thought Pulse was hell, and to realize what sort of paradise it really was, had changed completely her perspective of the universe.

Eager to know more, her azure eyes focused intensely, although still wearily, to the sapphire orbs in front of her, which had been looking at her intently, watching her every reaction.

The deep, blazing azure stare that pierced his eyes clenched the man´s gut; it was Leon´s time to feel uneasy and nervous, and he gulped imperceptibly.

"So… you´re not going to kill me?"

He smiled, as if amused by the question. "Not unless you try to kill me first."

She eyed him wearily, a delicate eyebrow rising as she appraised his attire, and suddenly she blurted the question without thinking first.

"Are you some sort of soldier?" at the question, his body responded for him, visibly tensing in front of her. "So you _are_ a soldier." She smiled a lopsided smile, pleased to know she hadn´t lose her touch, but at the same time growing more anxious, knowing that he being a soldier could mean only two possibilities: either that he was an enemy or an ally. And she needed to find out which one it was. And soon.

He smirked, "Well, that´s impressive, how would you know that?"

She mirrored his expression. "A demon knows another demon."

Lightning stopped dead at her own words.

Sharing the fact that she was a soldier, or at least had been, might I´ve been sharing too much information than the necessary, an odd feature on her. She scolded herself inwardly, angry for letting that one slip, and justifying herself with the idea that, anyways, if he were PSICOM, he would already know she was a Guardian Corps soldier… still, she couldn´t deny that it had been a huge mistake. But deep inside she had to admit: as they talked, something about this man made her feel less weary, less distrustful… somehow. Trying to hide her thoughts and control her incoherent ideas, her eyes fell astray from him, analyzing her surroundings once more.

"O-okay," he felt annoyed by the way she made him feel so nervous, the way his mind refused to work properly in spite of all his years of training, so he fought to gain some of the lost terrain and find out more about her. "So, I know you´re a soldier…" as he spoke with a professional tone of voice, he felt his resolution and confidence coming back to him, "which army? Why are you here?" Frustratingly for him, she had come back to the silent treatment, so he decided that maybe sharing a bit would prompt her to open up a tad more, so he kept on talking to her, waiting for another response, careful not to disclose too much information than the necessary.

"Look, my partner and I are in… an important mission, but the situation has gone… a bit out of control. We really need to get going, to find out more about this area, and, if possible, to neutralize the danger, in order to finish our mission. And carrying a possible threat, walking around with us, is definitely out of the question. Not to speak about an untrained soldier" She scoffed loudly at that, and he smirked, but kept on "or even worse, a civilian." He had expected another scoff, but she didn´t respond. He sighed at her treatment. "Listen, pretty lady, If you don´t belong to this country´s army, then you should know this area is not a safe place for a solitary soldier to walk around on her own. Do you know what lurks here? Do you have any _idea _the danger you´re in?"

At his last words, she locked eyes with him, eyes closed almost in slits, as if daring him to repeat the apparent insult at her skills.

This time Leon gulped loudly at those eyes, not out of fear, but at the intensity and fire radiating from them; as the blazing look tore at his insides longingly, he felt himself melting on such sight, losing focus of his senses. He had always found strong, determined women, to be the object of his weakness. He coughed, fighting to take a hold of his mind as he reprimanded himself, coughing once more and this time collecting his wits.

"Okay, okay, pretty lady, I think you should chill out. Let´s start from the beginning, shall we? I´ve already told you my name, so what´s yours?"

Her expression didn´t change for another minute, until she seemed to lose interest in him once more and looked away at the window, suddenly noticing how the dark night sky seemed to be illuminated in an odd, warm color, mainly in a small part at the bottom, where the sky touched the land, and which seemed to spread wider by the minute.

Leon sighed in frustration. "You know? It´s kind of uncomfortable to keep calling you 'pretty lady', it just doesn´t feel right…" he paused, waiting for the response that didn´t come. He scratched his head, preparing another approach and willing himself not to lose patience again. "Well then, if you won´t tell me, I might as well try to guess… or even give you a name myself." He chided, but as she didn´t answer, he started to go through a list of names on his head, somehow thinking that it would unnerve her, and thus force her into response, until, as if realizing his intentions, her husky voice filled his ears once more, almost in a whisper.

"Lightning."

"Come again?"

"Lightning." She turned to address him, annoyed at his question. "The name is Lightning." As he stood without speaking, mouth agape, seemingly not understanding her words, she rolled her eyes and looked once again at the dark sky, concern starting to write on her delicate features.

"Your name is Lightning? That´s… Sorry." He finally spoke, raising his hands once more, somewhat apologizing for his reaction. "It´s just an odd name."

"I get that a lot." She answered without looking at him.

He shifted uncomfortably and was going to apologize again, but she spoke first.

"It´s Leon, right? Tell me one thing."

"Yeah?" The way his name resonated through her voice sent shivers down his spine, as if the husky tone had changed his name; but he shook his head at the stupid, corny thought and concentrated on the question.

"Is it normal for the sky in this land to illuminate only at the bottom and in such a small place?" she kept on, not noticing his questioning stare. "Is orange and red a normal color for the dawn?" She spoke with no tone, but underneath her voice he could place a taste of uneasiness.

"What do you mean?"

"The window." She spoke without removing her eyes from the distant sky.

Following her gaze, the man rose from his chair and went to look towards the night, and the sight that met him froze his veins.

"Leon!" The door opened with a blast as Chris entered in a rush, gun at the ready, as his partner drew his own. "Groups of zombies carrying torches are everywhere! We´re surrounded!"

"Yeah." The addressed man spoke as calm as he could, teeth clenching. "I´ve noticed."

Forgetting their captive woman, the two men placed their backs against the wood walls, and peeked every so often out of the window, addressing the situation.

"I´m counting at least 50 zombie-like creatures, most of them with rudimentary weapons." Chris was the first one to speak. "I couldn´t see gunpower among them, but I wouldn´t be confident about that."

"As long as they don´t bring the big guys into the party, I think we´ll be able to escape."

As Leon finished his sentence, with a thunderous roar the wall that separated the two officers from Lightning exploded into thousands of pieces, sending small and dangerous wooden projectiles all around them, as an ominous, huge hammer embedded itself into the floor.

"Wholly sh…!"

"And you had to open your mouth!" scolded the brunet man, using both arms to cover his eyes from the debris.

Both men jumped away from the weapon as it was raised once more, and its towering owner, a massive, black-hooded men, stepped inside the hut.

Lightning received many of the sharp projectiles on her unprotected skin, only able to hide her face from the debris by turning around, as tiny multiple cuts made her skin bleed, injuring her exposed ear and cheek, and ripping small parts of her clothes. She then turned to see the cause of the destruction, and an imposing, black hooded figure towered over her, standing between her and the two men, who were already shooting at the man. She couldn´t see his face, as it was covered in a black, ragged looking hood, but she could see the threatening red orbs showing through small holes on the filthy cloth, and that pierced her eyes as if they were stabbing her. As azure orbs locked with crimson, deadly eyes, she could feel physical pain as a fear she hadn´t experienced in a long time pierced her chest.

She couldn´t see it, but Lightning swore she could notice the devilish smile inside the deadly eyes that leered at her, full of lust and mockery.

The tower of a man raised his hammer again, and this time she did hear the horrible laughter that came from inside the massive chest, while she desperately pulled her restraints as hard as she could, knowing she was the perfect victim. One that couldn´t escape.

"Tch…"

Author´s Note:

I would really like to apologize for posting this late, but I still hadn´t found the way of dealing with tons of work and a sick, VERY smart baby, plus I had to review this chapter like 20 times, so that it had as little mistakes as possible. But I really made it, and hope you like it.

Actually, the chapter was rather long, twice the pages it has now, but I thought it would be best if I divided it in two parts, so this first part introduces Lightning (finally!) into Leon´s life (I mean, they actually get to _talk_), so that the next chapter is full of action. Hope you enjoy!

Another thought: please excuse the mistakes, I´m doing my best, I swear, but English isn´t my first language, so any suggestion would be happily received!

Thank you once again! And thank you all for your patience and for keep following!


	4. Chapter 4

The Evil Fantasy chapter 4

The man´s torso and arms were naked, showing impressive muscular mass and allowing rotten flesh to show, his lower body covered with a dirty, filthy cloth dampened in dry blood and other type of secretions. His dark boots were military-like, but seemingly too small for his feet, since his dirty and injured toes where showing through the ripped leather. His other highlighting feature was his height, which must surely surpassed the 8 feet, Lightning couldn´t be sure. But the most terrifying feature was the way he handled his huge and heavy-looking hammer, as if it was a mere stick in the hands of a full-grown man… and who now was playing with it menacingly, slowly, as if toying with the possibility of searching for lean, cream-like flesh of the small frame held captive on the rusted bed, right in front of him.

"Tch…" at the sight that met her, Lightning´s eyes opened wide in surprise for a split second, only to be fixed menacingly on the man, as she assessed their precarious situation.

As the two partners emptied their guns over the threatening figure, (apparently with little damage, but effectively calling his attention away from her), she pulled harder onto her restrains as a last effort, frustratingly without avail. Again. She tightened the grip and searched for the man closest to her.

"Leon! Let me go!" she screamed to the top of her lungs, struggling to be heard over the noise, as the monster of a man rose once more his weapon against his two opponents. But the man kept his unsuccessful attack, without noticing her call.

"Leon!" she insisted, her lungs burning at the effort, fighting to be overheard above all the ruckus the monster-like man was making, as he was destroying old furniture, crashing his weapon against weakened walls, searching for the men´s heads and bodies, going for the kill.

But she obtained no response.

Lightning inhaled deeper, putting all her anger, fear and frustration, in her voice. "Leoooon!"

"What?" The calling immediately triggered something in the back of his mind, as he was finally able to hear her while he crouched, avoiding a dangerous strike directed towards his head.

"Release me now! I can help you!"

"What?"

"I said, let me GO!"

He hesitated a moment, and, without turning to see his partner´s look of disapproval, took the decision and jumped towards the woman, his knife already in his hand. With one swift motion, he cut the bonds on her right wrist, and as he reached out for the other wrist, his body over hers, she brought both her legs up in a blur, her bare feet connecting to his hard chest, and with a mighty push, she sent him flying away from her, his back crashing against the old chair, which tore into many pieces under his weight.

"Ouff!" the man didn´t have time to react as his abused back hit the ground with a tud, the air in his lungs leaving forcefully.

"Leon!" Chris screamed. Busy as he was with the incoming zombies that reached out for him, he helplessly saw his partner meet the ground and was about to shoot the female traitor, when he saw her jump away from the bed, or at least as far away as she could with her still bound wrist, as the end of the massive hammer turned the bed into pieces… right in the place Leon and her had been just seconds before.

He gave two steps to aid his partner, who was trying to rise from the ground, but a deafening sound made them both turn their heads around, right on time to see the hammer´s second strike destroying the wall right above the woman´s head. She had ducked, but the aiming of that last attempt was obviously not intended to kill.

The blond´s blood boiled in his veins as he realized the monster of a man was just teasing the small, defenseless frame in front of him.

"L-Light-ning!" Leon tried to scream without much success, still out of breath, but desperate to call her attention. Nevertheless, before hearing him, the young woman´s eyes found him first, and without need for words or gestures, she understood his intentions and nodded, readying herself.

Receiving the confirmation, he threw her his precious knife, and watched in surprise as she caught it on the air, and, with just a twitch of her wrist, she severed the ropes that still held her captive. Without losing the momentum, she jumped away from the massive man, right on time before he could capture her head on his enormous hand.

Another jump, and at the same time she threw back the borrowed knife towards its owner, she retrieved her beloved weapon, the gunblade Blaze Edge, and as she twirled her wrists to get a feel of her best friend back in her hand, a powerful, beautiful, and at the same time dangerous blaze filled her eyes, the lights of the torches on the zombie´s hands reflecting on the steel surface of the weapon, and illuminating her azure orbs with a lethal color.

"Now" she whispered almost breathlessly "now I´m whole." And as she spoke those words, she faced the monstrous being, who at the sight of the threatening glare, growled in response at the challenge, the sound anything but human. The growl of a feral beast.

She smirked evilly, as Blaze Edge danced on her hand, the movements of her wrist twisting the blade with such speed that the air was cut with a defiant sound. The enormous zombie growled once more and charged against her.

"Lightning!" Leon yelled at her, knife already in his hand, as he sent a barrel of bullets towards the monster, trying, with no avail, to stall its charge towards the woman.

"Don´t come any closer!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she ducked, avoiding a lethal blow directed towards her upper body. "You both take care of the rest!" Without losing her inertia, she slashed the back of the being´s heel, dark blood spurting from the new wound, and a feral cry made the walls tremble, as the huge man´s knee stroke the ground with the force of his whole weight.

Lightning smirked with pleasure at seeing her monstrous opponent kneeled in front of her. "This big guy is mine"

Leon and Chris interchanged incredulous looks, and the latter shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He said, and turned around to stall the horde of zombies that were struggling to enter the shack.

Leon wasn´t convinced, but he was forced to attend her petition as they were surrounded by threatening zombies, whose numbers were increasing dramatically. Even so, he stole glances to the pink haired girl from time to time.

Meanwhile Lightning felt the incredible rush of adrenaline that ran throughout her body, as the mass of muscles charged against her once more, now fueled with the strength of pain and fury. Analyzing the situation, this battle didn´t seem so different from fighting off a Behemoth, the terrible beast that plagued the Steppes on Gran Pulse, and maybe, just maybe, this time she was actually in advantage.

She ducked another attack, and slashed at his abdomen, but this time, although blood did spurt, she felt the resistance through the blade.

"Well well, aren´t we armored…" she slashed at his torso a second time as the thing recovered, feeling the same resistance, even though the monster growled furiously. "But nothing can protect you from me." She ducked and swirled around, avoiding the hammer´s head searching for her body, as she made her gunblade dance once more. Another slash, and this time the blade embedded itself in the upper part of the being´s back, as blood spurted, dampening the woman´s forearm. With a painful roar, both of his knees touched the ground, as the strawberry beauty withdrew the blade, filled with pleasure and drowning in adrenaline, as she saw her enemy´s massive body fall completely onto the ground, finally defeated.

But she had only a fraction of a second to enjoy her victory, since something hard collided against her body, at the same time she felt strong arms surrounding her waist and a scream of pain deafening her left ear.

"AAarrgghh!"

Taken by surprise and unable to regain her balance, her body followed the other´s momentum, crashing onto the dirty floor, and she felt the heavy weight of a man crushing her, as ashen bangs flooded her vision.

"Leon!" She heard the yell of the brunet man and she finally was able to recognize the owner of the body on top of hers, as she saw the blond´s face hidden over her breasts.

"L-Leon?" The man only grunted in recognition, as he weakly attempted to rise off of her, only to collapse over her body once more. She surveyed his back, the only part of his body she could see from her position supine on the ground, and what she saw made her gut clench: his shirt was torn apart, allowing the sight of a ghastly wound drawn from his right hip to his left shoulder, dampening his whole back with bright, crimson liquid.

"Damn!" Chris approached them while shooting desperately against the hordes of zombies. "He´s seriously wounded!"

Lightning still felt confused as she rose on her elbows, somewhat refusing to move the man´s wounded body, afraid to make it any worse.

"W-what happened?" was her stressed out question, directed towards the still standing man, but her eyes never left the figure on top of her. Lightning still couldn´t place the events, but looking around her, she saw the fallen zombie close to them, with its brains split apart and a bloodied ax on its hand, and understanding finally dawned on her, as her eyes fell upon the heavy and bloodied body over hers.

"Tch…"

"He tried to protect you." Chris spoke through his teeth, as his gun kept on spitting fire, and his left hand readied another load of bullets. "As you battled the huge zombie down there, another one approached you stealthily. Leon noticed it brandishing the ax and jumped to push you away, but he wasn´t fast enough. The ax slashed his back."

Her brow furrowed at the revelation, which didn´t came as a surprise, she already figuring out the events, and grunted in response. She hated to be protected. She was a skillful soldier, she did _not_ need protection. But then her mind was flooded with a group of people that formed her new motley crew, her now makeshift family, and a longing tore at her heart. This hadn´t been the first time someone had wanted to protect her, even against her will. The memory had done its job, and her eyes softened as she watched the man that had been willing to give his life for a stranger. She looked back at the dead zombie, and then noticed the oddity.

"But then… who…?"

This time, the brunet man smiled at her. "That was my doing, of course." He smirked a bit more. "Quite the shot, right?"

She ignored his last words, suppressing the need to roll her eyes, and turned to see the blond man once more. Leon had his eyes tightly closed, as if in severe pain, and she could feel soft tremors passing through his body, as his breathing became harder and faster.

Making up her mind, and as carefully as she could, as if to avoid making any more damage, Lightning rose and sat on the ground, lying his body on the side and placing his head over her lap. She placed a hand protectively over his shoulder and she raised her Blaze Edge in gun mode, shooting five approaching zombies on the head from her standpoint, five perfect killings apparently without any effort.

Chris turned around to appraise her for the difficult shots but the sight that met him prevented him from uttering any words.

The young woman had a deep frown, as if bothered by the situation, as if angry at the man that had tried to protect her, but her hands moved over his body softly, carefully, almost tenderly, as she cut his shirt with his own knife, and removed his gear. Unwillingly, Chris tore his eyes from the couple, and kept shooting at the approaching zombies, protecting his fallen partner and the strange strawberry blonde, and from time to time stealing glances at her progress.

Lightning exposed Leon´s wound, and as the blood kept pouring out, she placed a hand over it, as if trying to prevent it from leaving his body out of will power, and closed her eyes in concentration.

This time Chris did stop his actions, his eyes glued to her hands, as a soft blue light came from them and illuminated his partner´s back, growing in intensity by the second, and finally transforming itself in a cloud of blue light. After some seconds that seemed like hours, he forced himself to torn apart his gaze from them, in order to shoot at the incoming enemies, and stealing some glances towards them, so that he was able to see the wound closing, as if the skin was sewing itself over the wound, and blood stopped completely from pouring out. Without believing it, he saw Leon´s breathing becoming deeper, softer, and his eyes fluttering open.

"Wholly sh…!"

Lightning smirked at him. "No swearing, soldier. You´re in front of a superior."

Chris raised his eyebrow at her, but before he could make a retort, Leon grunted and started to rise.

"W-wha…?"

The young woman, softly but firmly, pushed his head back to her lap. "It´s ok, you´re fine now, just take a second to recover before you stand up."

Being the kind of man he was, Leon obeyed and closed his eyes, as he relaxed over her legs, relishing on the feeling of her cream-like skin and the smell of her flesh. He had a content countenance that didn´t pass unnoticed by his partner, who only smirked. At the moment.

Neither of them noticed the sickening pale skin and the split second of tightened teeth of the young woman.

"So Leon, tell me." Chris chuckled a bit, without losing attention to the zombies around them, but anyways noticing color returning to the man´s face. "What is it like to be in heaven?"

The strawberry blonde glared at him, but the addressed man only chuckled in response to the teasing. "I´ll tell you later, but I´m sure you´re dying out of envy."

At hearing his partner´s response, Chris chuckled too and exhaled deeply out of relief, while he concentrated on his shooting once more.

Lightning didn´t respond at their teasing and instead closed her eyes for a moment, as she relished on the feeling of warmth that spread over her body as she acknowledge the way a young teen with silver hair had changed her. The uptight and determined soldier she had been had encountered a crushing reality the moment she had to protect the most annoying boy she had met in her life. But a boy that had showed her a way to move on by watching herself through the mirror of the kid´s fears and broken dreams. Hope, the youngest l´Cie of her group, had been the catalyst of her transformation. Through him, she had learned what true partnership meant. What meant to be a true protector.

She opened her eyes once more as she sensed the man´s breath coming back to normal. The azure eyes found grateful blue ones, and a different type of warmth spread over her body. But a sudden jerk brought them back to reality.

"Okay, show´s over." Chris said as he kicked his partner´s legs. "We have some things cooking over here."

Leon groaned but obeyed, raising from his position and glaring at his partner, who only winked at him. Then he turned to help his savior, offering his hand, but, somewhat offended, she ignored his gesture and rose by herself.

"I´m sorry to bother you, lover boy, but I think I miscalculated." Chris kept on, as he handed the gun to his fellow soldier. "They´re coming out from every hole I can think of."

Leon and Lightning turned around, and saw that, indeed, they were surrounded by dozens of zombies entering through every door, window and broken wall of the small shack.

"Well then, guess we´ll have to find a way out, don´t we?" Leon addressed his comrades as he opened fire over the closest zombies.

"Be my guest." Answered Chris, as he loaded another set of bullets on his gun.

"Look out!" The feminine voice snapped both of them out of their small arguing and made them jump away, as the lethal hammer passed flying close to them, effectively destroying a wall near them and striking many zombies on its travel.

Leon was the first one to acknowledge the dying monster, as it rose from the ground in spite of the lethal wounds over its body.

"It´s still alive?"

"Tch…" Lightning´s patience was reaching a peak point. "Why won´t you just _die!"_

She shot a barrel of bullets over the deformed head, and as they met with other two rounds, they could only see the brain exploding.

"Yeah!" Chris screamed. "That´s how it´s done!"

"I wouldn´t be so happy, my friend." Was Leon´s calm reply. "We still have a problem to solve. And I would suggest one at a time." Everyone turned to see him, as he signaled the smashed wall, and a deafening sound reached their ears.

"It´s falling apart!" Was Lightning´s scream. "We have to get out!"

"I´ve got an idea!" Leon pointed his gun at the opposite wall, gun spitting desperately. "Let´s make our own path!"

The other two followed behind, shooting at the same direction and creating a path through the wall of threatening zombies, and they finally came out of the shack, just in time to watch it falling apart, crushing many zombies on its fall.

"Shit! Barely on time!"

"Don't sing victory, my friend. We still got like a hundred of zombies to get rid of." They all turned to see around, and found many zombies falling upon them, Lightning having to recur to Blaze Edge´s blade form to sever many heads, and preventing them from biting her small group, as the two men reinitiated their shooting.

"It´s to no avail," spoke a breathless Leon, "they keep coming and coming!"

The woman´s temper rose dangerously as her arms started to feel numb out of the effort, without seeing any real progress. "Damn you! I´m sick of it all!" Lightning raised her hand towards the sky, and a sudden, deafening blast followed by a blinding lightning stroke the ground close to her group, making a protective circle around them, creating a powerful barrier and destroying everything in a radius of many feet. The magnificent Thundaga spell carbonized almost every zombie around them, and the two men were reminded of the first time they had seen her.

"Oh my…" As the lightning and the smoke faded away, Chris could see they were safe once more, and couldn´t believe his eyes when he saw the dozens of carbonized corpses that surrounded them, opening a safe path in front of them.

"Yeah… amazing…" Leon turned to congratulate her when a metallic sound reached his ears: it was the clashing of her blade as it hit the ground, and saw her falling to her knees, her arms and head hanging as if she were a puppet who had suddenly lost its strings, her beautiful strawberry locks covering her face. "Lightning!" he ran towards her as her body reached for the ground, already unconscious, and his arms enveloped her just in time before she hit the floor.

"Lightning! Lightning!" Now safe in his arms, Leon shook her limp body, trying to wake her up, as his fear reached a peak point.

Chris approached them silently. "Is she…?"

"Are you nuts?!" Leon screamed at his partner, unconsciously surprised by his firing temper. "She´s just unconscious." As he said those words, calm washed over him, and he rose from his feet, her body softly cradled on his arms. "Maybe it was too much effort for her."

His partner whistled as he watched the closed eyelids.

"Guess we´re back from where we started." Leon said, concerned over the events and of his partner´s thoughts.

"No, we aren´t." Chris spoke as he watched, quite intently, the seemingly peaceful face of the sleeping woman. "At least we know she isn´t a zombie… and that she´s extremely powerful." He crossed his arms over his chest, still thoughtful. "I really pray she´s on our side, or that at least she´s not an enemy."

"Yeah," the blond man said. "Let´s pray she is not."

A/N: I´m really sorry I´m making Lightning look a little bit weak, but I swear to you there´s a good reason! Hope you´ll find out soon enough.

Did you like the chappie? Because I really ENJOOOOYED writing it! I LOVE the battle scenes! As I´ve said before, it´s like being in the games! Wohoooo!

On some other thoughts, this fic is actually the introduction to _another,_ more dramatic one, but I´m still thinking on writing them at the same time or finishing this baby and THEN writing the other. I know I should finish this one first, but I swear my hands are _burning_ to post the other one! What do you think?

Have fun everyone! And please leave a review! Your comments really help me to get better!


	5. Chapter 5

The Evil Fantasy Chapter 5.

In spite of the fact that she could still see some daylight filtering from the entrance, the deepest part of the cave was dark, almost as dark as a moonless night… and almost as terrifying, reminding the strawberry blonde soldier the first time she stood inside a darkened platform, feeling helpless, devastated, and blindly vengeful… this dark, humid, enclosed place reminded her the ominous night she had faced a fal´Cie for the first time, those demi-god creatures that controlled all of Cocoon´s citizens' lives… it reminded her of the night her life, and everything she knew, had been cursed…

Lightning shook her head, not allowing her thoughts to fall astray in such eerie memories. She had a precious mission to accomplish, and being lost on a foreign land was completely away from her schedule. She had to find her way back to her world soon, to Gran Pulse, if she ever wanted to rescue her sister somehow.

_Serah…_

The female soldier clenched her teeth, fighting to control the fear over her baby sister´s fate, knowing that time was not at their side, the knowledge making her control over her emotions falter even more.

After leaving the two men behind at the entrance of the cave, she had checked out the ominous brand carved in the pale skin over her heart, worried about the time factor… and the sight of the black and red symbol staring back only pulled at her soul even harder, as the crimson, threatening eye that had started to open up, glared back at her, as if mocking her, while she felt sure new black arrows had been drawn, looking as if they were kissing the skin of her left breast.

She sighed, and inhaled deeper as the temperature around her rose, as well as the humidity, making her sweaty and burning her lungs with every breath… the darkness was enveloping her deeper, as she walked further inside the cave. She raised her hand in front of her, creating a small fire spell that illuminated her surroundings, allowing her to be able to discern her path. But she immediately regretted the action: her legs wobbled a bit, and her sight went white and then black for a split second. The faint blaze gone, the darkness enveloped her once more, but before she fell on her knees, she found was able to keep

her balance by placing a hand over the walls, as her back followed suit. Her body now supported by the rocky wall, and confident she wouldn´t fall, the young woman inhaled and exhaled rhythmically, as she regained control over her body, feeling her strength coming back to her, slowly but surely.

"Tch…" She looked at her hand, or at least the little she could discern of it in the shadows. "What´s happening to me?" She asked to no one.

It was as if the magic she used drained a little too much strength from her. Using magic had always been an extra effort, but as time passed by it became second nature, the energy spent passing unnoticed; but now… Not even during her first days as l´Cie had she felt this weak. It was as if the energy cost had multiplied tenfold.

After a few more seconds of pondering and recovering, she raised her eyes and paid attention to her dark surroundings, feeling the walls where her hands were resting rather dampened, as a gush of air, which sounded as if entering and coming outside of a small opening, reached her ears, as well as a foul smell enveloped her.

She kept walking, as the sound grew stronger, but only to find a closed wall.

"Tch." She felt confident the ventilation had to be somewhere around her, so she groped, trying to find the place where the sound came from, but it was to no avail. The only thing her hands touched were the cold, dampened rock that somehow vibrated with the sound. But nothing else.

"Right. No exit."

Frustrated, she turned back, readying herself to face the men waiting for her at the entrance. The complete strangers that had taken care of her and saved her life. Twice. She tried not to linger in those humiliating thoughts. After all, it wasn´t the first time she had to pair up with uninvited guests, in order to survive.

After her failed little mission, she retraced her steps back to her partners, as she distracted her mind with the characteristics of her surroundings, wishing nothing more but to stop _thinking_. As she approached the entrance, and light began to hurt her retinas, the young woman heard the two men talking rather heatingly.

"I said no. That´s completely out of the question." Even though the voice seemed calm, Lightning could feel the anger vibrating through it. Almost unnoticeable, but definitely there.

"Oh c´mon, Leon! I know she´s beautiful, I can´t deny that. But she´s anyways too young for you."

Lightning rolled her eyes, a mocking smile on her lips. _Men talking about younger women… don´t they have a mission to fulfill? Tch… _She shook her head in disapproval, but also somewhat amused, having heard many conversations on the subject at her division. _It seems there are things that never change, no matter the place._

"You know I don´t mean that!" she heard the addressed man retort angrily, his voice seething, and then dropping an octave, as if keeping the anger in check. "Your plan is absolutely absurd. She´s too young. We can´t protect her from everything. She just _fainted out of the blue."_

Her ears prickled at the last statement, as she slowed her steps… _Are they…?_

"You were the one who had the idea of bringing her along in the ride." Her steps slowed even further. "Besides, she didn´t faint out of the blue… you _saw_ what she did! All that thunder and lightning was absolutely amazing!"

_Whaaat?!_ Had she heard well? After the last statement, there was no denying it now: they were talking about _her!_

_Bastards! How dare they?!_

Lightning stopped dead at hearing their argument, burning in rage; but no matter how angry or offended she felt, something told her it was more to it than what she had heard, so she hid herself immediately, pressing her back as much as she could into the wall, taking advantage of the darkness that enveloped her, as she intently heard their discussion.

"If you want her to fall for you, I really don´t think wooing her like that will work this time."

Hidden as she was now, she could discern the two figures, and recognized the blond man grunting in frustration at his partner, the latter looking rather amused.

"Don´t be stupid! It´s not like that!" Leon shoved his partner, his temper exploding, but the man held his ground.

"Sure it´s not!"

"Aarrgh… sometimes you´re just unbearable! I´d rather have your sister as my partner than you!" Leon turned around, raising his hands towards the sky in frustration, a feeling he thought he had learned to control. Trying to keep his cool, he gave a few steps away from his partner.

Chris chuckled at his friend´s antics, amused at watching the stoic man squirm and ignoring the man´s last statement, knowing Leon was just bluffing, a last and weak attempt to make him falter. But after a couple of seconds he sighed, any sign of teasing gone, as he walked towards the other man in a conciliating gesture.

"Look pal. I know you, I totally understand how you are, and believe me, I really appreciate you protected my sister through the Racoon´s ordeal. But you´ve got to understand that not every girl you come across is going to need your help, and even more, not every one of them will appreciate your offering." Leon glared at the man, but he ignored it and went on as if nothing happened.

"Through the years, I´ve learned what true partnership means, and it means to trust your partner, included her strength and abilities. It means to really confide _your_ life in her hands. And also trusting _their own._ To be confident that they will be able to protect themselves, that even though they appreciate your help, they don´t _need you._ I´ve learned it with Jill, she taught me how to believe in her; through the years, she made me understand she wasn´t a helpless girl, and rather on the contrary, she was quite the skilled cop. It was hard, I admit it, but now I believe in her completely. And thanks to that, I was able to believe in Sheva too; without her, I would´ve never been able to rescue Jill. And even my sister taught me to trust her strength, the hardest thing I´ve ever done, and she did it by being with _you_."

Leon had turned his look away from his partner, refusing to meet his eyes, knowing that if he did, he had to acknowledge the words as true.

There was a pause, and Lightning noticed the man named Chris was looking her way, although as if pensive, apparently without truly seeing her. She pressed her back further into the rock.

But they didn´t seem to notice her, and, after a moment, Chris turned his eyes once more towards his partner.

"The girl seems strong. She´s shown us her skills, besides her temper, and something tells me she only showed us a scratch of her true abilities." Leon this time did turn to look at his partner, his countenance unreadable, but his eyes unbelieving.

In spite of that, Chris pushed him further. "She _is_ powerful, more than you and I together. You can´t deny that."

"But something is happening to her," Leon finally interrupted him, "it´s as if, every time she uses her power, her body can´t take it, and that makes her faint. As if it were too much effort for her. She would be a liability." The last statement was spoken with a final tone.

Lightning´s eyes widened in surprise, as the last words brought back a shameful memory, of the time she had spoken those same words outloud, and she looked at her gloved hand, now outstretched in front of her, as a feeling of rage, shame and outrage washed over her body.

_So this is what it feels like…_ As an image of fearful jade eyes crossed her mind, she felt the hint of an apology forming in her heart.

_As soon as I come back, I´ll tell him…_

"Well," Chris kept on, interrupting her thoughts, "then I guess we should prevent her from using it while with us, and unless completely necessary."

"I don´t understand, though," Leon kept on, "why´re you so insistent on bringing her along with us? Especially when you originally hated the idea. She´s not part of the mission, and for what she´s said, she´s not even from our world. She wouldn´t understand our plight, and most probably she wouldn´t want to come with us."

"Why don´t we leave the decision to her?"

But Leon pushed further. "It´s too dangerous. You know the type of beasts that await us there. She´s way too young for them, too young to face this decision."

The words stung her pride, hard. She had always hated people telling her what she could or couldn´t do. It had been enough.

Angry at the blond´s comment, the strawberry blonde stepped out of the darkness, eyes ablaze in fury, making the two men jolt in surprise at being caught talking about her.

"Too young for what? The monsters we just fought and _I_ saved you from?"

Both men faced the raging woman, feeling glued to the ground, Leon speechless at what he had said, so Chris recovered first and took the initiative.

"Pay him no mind, my child." Chris smirked as Lightning glared at him, the mocking words making her flush out of anger. "He´s too old to believe in youth. Me, on the other hand, have a favor to ask of you."

A delicate eyebrow rose, as Leon glared at his partner, trying to prevent him from speaking any further, but the man did as if he hadn´t noticed him, walking towards the strawberry beauty.

"You see, I think you´ve already noticed the hardship we´re in, and I would love to give you the introduction, because I would love to ask you a favor."

"Why would I ever do a favor to you?" The young woman spat, eyes defiant and sparkling with fury. "You´ve saved my life, but I´ve saved yours too, so I think we´re even. I´ve got more important things to do."

Leon took it as an opportunity presented for him. "I agree with you, girl. Nothing good can come out of it for you."

This time the azure glare was directed towards the man, but Chris stepped into her line of vision, not wanting any more distractions.

"You see, we _are_ a particular type of soldiers, given a particular mission."

"Which is…?"

Chris smiled at her, already anticipating the question, and enjoying the idea of adding a sip of mystery.

"Well, it´s a long story, you know?…" His smile grew wider with the dramatic pause. "But if you want me to, I´ll try to explain it as best as I can."

She eyed the soldier wearily, as Chris only smiled back at her, awaiting her response. She looked back at Leon, who said nothing, and then she nodded her agreement at the brunet man, who sat on the ground in front of her and offered the place next to him. She refused the offering and sat in front of the man, her eyes never losing their fire, but that now sparkled with interest. After a second, Leon reluctantly sat next to them.

So Chris explained her about the brand of viruses that were developed as bioweapons, how they transformed normal, mostly innocent people into mindless cannibals, monsters that only sought death and destruction, and how the transformation could include any type of life form, and which spread had caused a whole city to be destroyed. He told her about the many years both Leon and he had fought against the terrorist organizations, in order to destroy them, told her about the people they had lost and they had met during their war, and told her that their organization had recently discovered the development of a new, more powerful brand of viruses.

"So Leon´s and my mission was to find the laboratory where such a virus had been created, and take that info back into headquarters."

"And you found these laboratory."

"Of course we did." Leon interfered for the first time after his partner had started the story, still proud at their accomplishment.

"So… you´re going back to headquarters. Right?"

"Well…" Chris turned to look at his partner, who shook his head as a last attempt to prevent the words. But the silent warning was unattended.

"That´s actually the situation." Chris kept on as if he hadn´t noticed his partner´s plea. "You see, we´ve already reported back to headquarters, giving them all the information we gathered."

"And?"

"We´re not going back."

"Why not?"

Chris turned to see his partner, asking for him to intervene. Leon held his gaze for a couple of seconds, refusing to accept. But after a moment, and with his partner´s look, silently asking for his support, he finally complied. After all, it was his greatest source of fear and bravery, so it wasn´t in his heart to deny the young woman the knowledge. The blond man shook his head in resignation, and with a sigh, continued the explanation.

"Because we think that, if the attack is delayed any longer, the virus will be sold in the black market before we can stop it, and so it will spread wider in the globe. After all, they know we are here. Our presence will surely prompt them into finishing the production and commercialization." The young woman looked intently at him, a questioning stare, as if pushing him to finish. He did so with a final sigh. "So we´re going to destroy the lab."

She looked at both men, first questioningly, and then with disbelief in her countenance. "Both of you? _Alone?"_

"Creepy, isn´t it?" Chris smiled.

"No." She said, looking directly at Leon, almost daringly. "Stupidly suicidal."

"My thoughts exactly." He answered.

"So why are you doing it?"

"That´s easy to answer." Chris interfered, and Lightning looked at him questioningly, but it was Leon the one who answered.

"Because we can." She turned back at the man, locking eyes with him, searching for the lie.

"But you´ve just said it´s too dangerous, right?"

"That´s right."

"So what makes you think you´ll be able to do it and make it out alive?"

"Because we´ve done it before. Both of us. Alone." It had been Chris the one to speak, accentuating the last word and looking directly at the disbelieving azure eyes, as if daring her to question his words.

A pause, and then the question.

"So what do you want from me?"

"Nothing." Was Leon´s immediate answer, but Chris interfered before she could say anything else.

"Actually _we_" Chris glared at his partner, who glared back, but didn´t say a word "want you to help us, to accompany us on this mission."

"Oh yeah?" She smirked, amused at the petition, looking daringly from one set of eyes to the other, as their last dialogue replayed in her mind. "What makes you think I would help you?"

"Because you _can._ You seem to be the type of person to achieve what looks impossible._"_

That last statement from Chris did make her lock eyes with him. But she couldn´t find a lie behind his eyes, which startled her. There had been only one person who had had such confidence in her skills. And that person needed her now.

A second passed, and she rose from her place.

"Sorry, boys, but I don´t feel particularly suicidal as of late." She dusted herself off and turned to leave. "Besides, I don´t have time for this."

But before she gave any step further away, Chris´ words glued her to the ground.

"Did I mention they have several machinery and technology that could help us find your way back home?"

Another pause, and with her body facing away from them, she barely moved her head, the only sign that she was addressing the man.

"You don´t know that."

"But that´s better than the possibility, am I right? Or what do you think you will earn by walking around mindlessly, up and down this forsaken forest, wishing to find a clue that _might _lead you back home?"

No answer. She didn´t move an inch, which Chris took to his advantage.

"I´m offering the possibility of _doing_ something, instead of being lost, without a real objective. Instead of wasting your _time._"

She closed her eyes as his words stung her heart, while something prickled inside her shut eyelids, as she tried desperately to keep her anger and fears in check.

Oh! She hated this man SO much…

But in spite of her denial, the battle inside her head had already started. Did she want to risk everything for her pride? Wanted to come back to such situation? To wander around the world, completely clueless about destination or time?

_Time is not on my side._

She turned to look at Leon, azure eyes trying to read through cold, cerulean ones.

"And what is your opinion?"

He rose from his place and stood in front of her, eyes locked with hers, as he spoke without hesitation. "You should go back home and away from this land."

"Which means," Chris spoke without regret, "he doesn´t think you can manage it."

The words did the trick. Azure orbs closed in slits, as cerulean became harder, while Leon wished nothing more than to break his partner´s nose, but without relenting his hold on the lighter eyes for a bit.

"Right." She said, as she gave two steps closer to the man in front of her, daring him to speak. "I think I´ll…"

But she couldn´t finish the sentence, as something stabbed her left shoulder, with such force that it made her crash her body against the man´s.

"Argh!"

"Lightning!" Leon held her close to him, a movement that allowed him to see the rusted knife embedded deeply into her shoulder. "Damn!"

Chris turned his head around as he rose in a swift motion, and was able to see on time another knife flying directly towards his chest. He moved faster, avoiding the deadly weapon, which only scratched his shirt.

Leon opened his eyes wide in surprise, as realization hit him. The knife deeply carved in the woman´s soft flesh had been directed at his chest, just like it had been at his partner. It had been the steps Lightning gave closer to him what had saved him from a certain death… and had injured the young woman instead.

"Damn it!"

The three jumped inside the cave, Leon not letting go of the woman´s body, as they used the rocky wall as a parapet, while few knifes flew past them and some others hit the rock.

Chris took a swift glance outside, and could see five zombies running at them, some brandishing long knifes, two of them throwing smaller ones at them. He shot at the incoming enemies, effectively killing two.

"They´re few, but have a hell of an aiming." He turned around to see his comrades, as a couple of knifes ricocheted into the wall. "How´s the girl?"

"That´s Lightning for you." She hissed her response, as pain ran through her body. She was kneeled close to the wall, right arm resting on Leon´s leg, left trying to reach for the offending weapon. Leon was kneeled in front of her, his body close to hers, almost covering her, in a protective gesture, a hand already holding the knife.

"This is going to hurt." He told her. "I´m sorry."

"You _will be _sorry if you don´t pull it out soon." In spite of their plight, he couldn´t suppress a smile at her fiery temper.

With a fast, swift motion, he withdrew the weapon, as blood spurted, dampening his arm and hand. The woman yelped, and she partially collapsed over his leg, as tremors passed through her body. She clenched the fabric of his pants and shirt, fighting to control the pain and his shaking body.

"Are you ok?" He asked her wearily, and she faintly nodded.

The young woman breathed deeper, without opening her eyes. "Just give me a second to recover, and I´ll be glad to kick some butts."

"You should hurry, then." Chris answered her, as he kept shooting at the incoming enemies. "I´m almost done here."

He had just finished the sentence when something small fell close to them, bouncing menacingly.

"Grenade!"

Leon pulled the woman away from the explosive, jumping further inside the cave, and falling on top of her, his body shielding hers as the thing exploded, making many small rocks fall and creating a big cloud of dust that made everyone cough.

The zombie stepped inside the cave, finding them lying on the floor, apparently defenseless, but before he could prepare another grenade from his backpack, a perfect shot in the head stalled his actions, a present from a strawberry beauty, the bullet killing him immediately.

Both men turned to see the woman prone on the floor beside them, still aiming her gun, and saw her drop the weapon on the ground, panting at the pain as she struggled to rise her body off the floor.

"Weren´t you injured?" Chris asked her, and she glared at him, still panting.

"I happen to have two hands, you know?"

The man was about to make a cheeky retort, when a sudden roar followed by a tremor that ran throughout the walls of the cave, froze their movements. With the tremor, a cloud of dust enveloped them again.

Leon was the first one to speak. "Please tell me it´s only the echo of the grenade."

"I really don´t think so, partner." Chris answered, coughing in spams, as he gave a few steps towards the exit.

Another tremor passed, followed by a fierce grunting that came from deep within the cave. Leon and Lightning followed their friend slowly, until a greater roar made them jump.

"It´s a cave in!" Leon screamed, and took the woman´s healthy arm, while pulling her towards the exit, as the three of them ran outside the cave.

Once the three were outside, and apparently safe, Lightning pulled harshly her arm from the man´s vicious grip, ignoring her injury, as she glared furiously at the tall blond.

"I would really appreciate if you don´t…"

But she couldn´t finish the sentence, as the entrance of the cave somewhat exploded in front of them, creating rocky projectiles and a bigger cloud of dust, as an enormous monster, what apparently had been a bear, appeared in front of them. Only, this bear didn´t have any fur on it, nor even a skin to talk about, and instead his muscles were shown, with patchy blackened areas distributed randomly, so much like burn injuries, that seemed to occupy most of its body.

The thing roared, making the trees around them vibrate with the sound, as well as the group´s skin prickle.

"So it wasn´t a wall after all…" Lightning remembered the sound she had heard from inside the cave, and realized it had been the monster´s breathing what she´d heard, and possibly what she had felt had been it´s skin… or rather, the lack of it. She couldn´t ponder much, since the monstrous being charged against them, apparently furious at being awakened in such a harsh way.

"Look out!"

The bear-like monster threw its claw towards them, in an attempt to slice any one of the party in half, but they jumped aside on time, reuniting a few steps away from the monster, in order to evaluate the situation.

"We can fight or flee, but I think the latter would be very risky." Leon spoke first, while each one of the group aimed at the thing, dangerous bloodshot eyes searching from one form to the other. "This things usually are very fast, and could easily outrun us."

"If we can choose," Chris said, as they avoided another dangerous strike, reinitiating the shooting as soon as he could, "I definitely will choose the latter." Leon eyed his partner. "What?" the brunet man raised his shoulders, and pointed at the monster accusingly, "that thing is definitely ugly!"

"I don´t mind the looks," Lightning intervened, jumping aside to avoid a threatening bite, "but I´ll have to agree with him: I think I´ll choose the latter too. We won´t be able to defeat that thing without enough gunpower."

To their surprise, Leon smiled at them. "That´s what I´m talking about." He then raised a ragged backpack in front of them, displayed triumphantly in his hands. "I think the last zombie dropped this before pretty lady here got him."

"And what is that thing?"

Before Leon showed them, the monstrosity charged at them once again, as they avoided the last attack, and bullets started to kiss the tainted flesh, without apparent success.

"But what is that?" Chris insisted, once they were close enough to hear each other.

"Grenades. Two to be exact. Gunpower enough to kill this thing, hopefully." The monster recovered and charged at them once more. "I´ve got a plan," Leon kept on, "and I need you to distract it."

"I´ve got your back, buddy." Was Chris immediate response.

"Is scattering distraction enough?" asked the strawberry blonde, and without waiting for their reply, she turned into a sprint, away from them, and as soon as she was within a safe distant, she flailed her arms and called for the monster.

But she had no need for such efforts, since, as she ran past the bear, the sudden movement calling up its attention, the wind carried her scent into its nostrils, dampening its olfactory organ with the metallic and sweet smell of fresh blood, which came from her still open wound. The monster saw everything in red as its vision was locked, instinctively, in the retreating form of its weakened prey. The bear shot forward towards her, as the scent of blood invaded its senses, translated inside its brain into the almost certainty of an easy meal, and transforming the already corrupted animal into an efficient killing machine. As the woman saw the humongous bear turning its complete attention towards her, she sent its way a rain of bullets, in an attempt to deter its ravenous sprint, and ran once more.

Watching the woman and the beast´s actions, both men interchanged incredulous looks.

"What in the name of God is she doing?" Asked Leon, as Chris shook his head and followed suit, shooting at the monster in order to distract it from the retreating blonde, as he shouted his response.

"I have no idea, but I´m guessing we have no other choice but to follow suit!"

Leon sighed and ran after them, catching up with the monster fast, as it seemed it was being deterred by Lightning´s constant shooting and jumping.

The strawberry blonde kept running, while with her attacks and evasions made sure there was a safe distance between her and her enemy. But in spite of all the energy she was showing, and as hard as she was trying to conceal it, her efforts were being affected by her body´s conditions: the wounded shoulder sent waves of pain through the rest of her body, deterring her actions and slowing her pace, her legs starting to feel way too heavy for her taste, as she felt warm liquid running down her back and arm. It was evident that the pain, plus the blood loss, was taking its toll on her strength.

Angry at her plight, she forced her body harder, running faster this time, getting further away from the being.

Chris kept on shooting, struggling to catch up with them, until the monster finally noticed his attempts, turning its head towards the brunet man, and then at the woman, as if uncertain on who to follow, as Leon tried to approach from behind it, making as little sound as he could.

Oblivious to the blond behind its back, the monstrous being screeched to a halt and turned its crimson stare alternatively towards the woman and the man, deciding which one to attack first.

Lightning and Chris unloaded their guns upon the bear, effectively stalling its deadly sprint but apparently without much damage, eliciting an angry and frustrating roar from the beast, which seemed unsure of who attack first. Suddenly, as the wind´s direction shifted, its pupils dilated noticeably, as the powerful and delicious scent invaded its nostrils once more: the strong and tasteful smell of Lightning´s fresh blood. Perceiving it up close, the crimson eyes turned slowly in the direction of the smell, and found strawberry blond locks dancing with the wind, some of them tainted by dark blood, dancing as if inviting the monster in. Blinded by instinct, the monstrosity made up its mind and charged against the wounded soldier once again, instinct telling it she should be the weakest of the group.

"Right…" Lightning didn´t move, didn´t even flinch at the sight of the massive being coming her way, approaching fast and deadly. She stood firm on her ground, steadied Blaze Edge in gun mode, and aimed with her healthy hand at the monstrosity's head.

"Lightning! Watch out!" Chris screamed at her while his gun spit bullets as if they were rain, but without any effect on the monster´s charge. Leon, seeing this did likewise, plan already forgotten, while running towards the young woman.

But Lightning still didn´t move, as the air slowly escaped her mouth to steady her aim, while her finger pulled the trigger and released the bullet. A perfect shot, and she knew it before it left her weapon.

The bear received the impact on its head, directly in between both eyes. The being roared and fell, with the inertia of its running making it keep skidding straight ahead, only to stop an inch from the strawberry beauty´s legs, still grunting and moving in what it seemed to be its last contractions. Without flinching, the woman leveled the barrel of her gunblade to the massive head, ready for the final shot. But before she could pull the trigger once more, the bear shook its head, taking her off guard and effectively knocking the young woman off.

"No!" Leon screamed as Lightning fell beside the monster, her back slamming against a massive tree, her gunblade fallen close to the dangerous paws, as the bear, albeit with some difficulty, stood once more, shook its head as if to clear it, and roared at the small frame in front of it, while Lightning laid sprawled upon the ground, shaking her head too, struggling to focus once more.

"Lightning! Move out of the way!" Leon screamed as he took the bear´s focus on the woman as an opportunity, and jumped on top of it, using its legs as steps to get on the massive back, as he grabbed its ears with all his might, while the monster struggled and grunted and moved in order to get rid of the bothersome cargo.

"Leon!" both Lightning and Chris screamed in unison, as the man, using one hand to hold himself on top of the monster, and the other to retrieve a hand grenade from the backpack hanging on his arm, threw the last weapon inside the monster´s mouth while it roared in anger, almost losing his arm in the attempt. The monster flailed and struggled, until it made Leon´s body collapse against a tree, but he recovered faster, already awaiting the fall, and ran away from the monstrous being as fast as he could.

For a moment the bear stood on its hinds, having a hard time completely swallowing the hand grenade but finally satisfied of getting rid of the man, and after a few seconds its red eyes focused once more on the young woman, who was now on her feet. The being roared as if it hadn´t just swallowed a grenade, and charged once more. This time, blacking out her exhaustion and pain, Lightning did run, as fast as she could, to get away from the being, but especially to keep it away from the two men.

But even after she gave many steps, nothing happened, not an explosion nor anything whatsoever, and the monster kept chasing the young woman as fast as its legs would bring it, which was faster than Lightning´s wounded body was carrying her.

"Lightning! Look out! The grenade must be ready to blow!"

"I think it won´t explode!" She yelled without stopping her frenetic flee. "I need one more of those!"

"Are you crazy?" Leon screamed, as both men ran behind the chase. "It will blow anytime!"

The strawberry beauty didn´t answer, and instead ran in a circle, circumvallating the monster, who followed, hot on her back, as they approached fast the running males, who broke their run at the approaching figures.

"What in the world…?"

But she ran past them, snatching the backpack from Leon´s hand and, without breaking the momentum, withdrew the last grenade, tossing aside the ragged back, her stride still wide.

The monster just ran past them, ignoring the males´ presence, its focus absolute over the small figure.

"What in the world are you doing, woman!?" Chris yelled, running in chase of the beauty and the beast.

Lightning didn´t answer, and instead looked back, watching her pursuer and the two men approach. She pushed herself to her limits and ran faster, trying to create as much distance from her comrades as she could, and at the same time making sure the monster remained behind her. She looked back once more, and once she considered appropriate, she slowed her step for a few paces, until the bear came close enough to her, and opened its mouth dangerously, ready to grab a bite of its precious pray. Lightning spun around and, taking advantage of the open mouth, in a swift movement loaded and threw the grenade inside the monsters´ mouth. She then jumped to the side as the monstrous thing almost ran over her, and then the woman ran as fast as she could towards the opposite direction, becoming her namesake, in order to escape the explosion.

Both men stopped on their hot pursue of the strawberry beauty, and realizing the imminent danger, took cover to the nearest and biggest rocks embedded in the wet soil.

But Lightning wasn´t so lucky. As fast as she had run while the beast halted its charge in surprise, she hadn´t had time to put enough distance between them, since, almost immediately after the bear swallowed the grenade, it apparently made contact with the other one, and both explode in unison, creating a wave that torn into pieces the monstrous being and ripped off any tree, root, branch and obstacle in a radius of more than 200 feet, sending the female soldier flying forward, along with the debris.

Once the cloud of dust faded, and a small fire over the burnt pieces of the monster and the trees around them remained, both men went out of their hideout, looking frantically for the strawberry blonde.

"Lightning! Were are you?!" Leon was desperate, searching among the debris, branches and fallen trees where he had seen her run. Chris did likewise, trying to keep his wits and control his guilt. After all, it had been _his _idea to include her in the mission, putting aside the possibility of her demise, never considering the fact that, in spite of all her power, her death could come so easily.

A movement among the debris called for their attention, and both men sprinted towards the place, as a small, gloved hand, covered in dirt and blood, reached out for the surface. Leon took the hand and pulled, as hard as he could, in order to liberate the rest of the body, as Chris removed the wreckage around it. As soon as her head was out of the debris, Lightning coughed frantically, gasping for air. Leon then reached out for her torso, struggling to liberate her some more. Surprisingly, this time the strawberry beauty didn´t protest, occupied as she was on embedding her (almost) healthy hand on strawberry locks, now filled with dirt and leaves, only to retrieve it covered in blood, as azure eyes finally focused.

"Are you ok?" Leon asked, his arms now completely surrounding her waist and liberating her legs, as her arm found support on his back, Chris helping but still speechless out of relief.

Her body was covered with cuts and bruises, one side of her face covered in blood, but aside from that, and what seemed to be a ghastly cut on her right temporal bone, and the already old injury on her shoulder, she seemed to be in one piece.

After a minute of coughing, and while she was helped completely out of the rocks and pieces of trees, roots, rocks and branches that had held her captive, Lightning was finally able to speak in between gasps.

"Is this the way you… usually have fun?" Leon smiled at the humor, an indicative that she was ok… although worse for wear.

"Honestly, this is just a refreshment." He answered, a small smile on his face. "It usually gets better as day goes by."

Breathing heavily, she glared at him, his smile growing wider at the response.

"Then I think… after this I have… made up my mind…" She spoke, azure eyes ablaze, which sent shivers down the man´s spine, aside from a sense of relief.

"I´m glad you came into reason." Betraying his words, there was a nagging of disappointment at the back of his head. "So were are you heading now?"

"Wherever you go, of course, even if it´s into hell itself." She answered him cockily, holding his gaze, but immediately lowered her head trying to avoid eye contact, as his close proximity betrayed her emotions.

Leon´s eyes opened wide at the statement. "But I thought… weren´t you…?"

Still hunched, relying on his back, she smirked at his expression. "Of course I´m staying with you, accompany you in your mission." She then straightened her body, freeing herself from his grasp, and rubbed her back and her still bleeding shoulder, only to smile daringly at the man, her face inches from his, even though she felt angry at the feeling of butterflies on her stomach. "You see, I _have to_, you two wouldn´t last a minute without me."

Her smile grew wider at his entrapped expression, and then walked away from him, making her way through the debris, her walk sometimes faltering, as she muttered to herself something on the lines of 'I gotta lie down.'

Leon stood motionless, glued to the ground, as he looked at the retreating body that was trying to make her way through wreckage of small fires, fallen trees and rocks, until a whistle close to his ear took him out of his reverie.

"She´s one of a kind, isn´t she?" Leon turned to see his partner staring at the figure too, and his gut clenched in fury, but still refused to move, as Chris addressed his partner. "I feel somewhat offended at her statement, but I think my male ego can sustain that blow if we get a thing like _that _to accompany us." He winked at the man and the blond felt an intense need to punch him in the face. Apparently the other man read his thoughts, because he retreated immediately, a mocking grin plastered on his face, and followed the smaller figure.

Leon didn´t know why, since he had been against taking the strawberry blonde with them, but something inside him jolted with joy at the idea of having her close. For many days it would seem.

A/N: I hope you liked it! I know it´s a very long chapter, but I just couldn´t reduce it!

Thank you SO much for all your support and comments! And thank you so much for those who are following this story! Love ya!


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